Holden, now the longest serving Pennsylvania lawmaker in the U.S. Congress, hoped to send a message to the majority of his Democratic colleagues Wednesday when he voted against Nancy Pelosi to lead their party.

Holden, who represents all of Dauphin, Lebanon and Schuylkill counties, was one of 43 who threw their support behind conservative Democrat conservative Democrat Heath Shuler of North Carolina over Pelosi.

In a phone interview after the vote, Holden said he and others wanted Pelosi to know “that we were not satisfied with the direction the caucus was going. We should have concentrated on the economy from day one.”

He said the vote was nothing personal against her, but that her decisions as leader cost Democrats like Paul Kanjorski and Chris Carney their jobs. Holden, who voted against his party’s health care bill, said Pelosi made a mistake by not focusing exclusively on job creation.

“I think they misread the will of the American people,” Holden said. “The stimulus was fine. I wholeheartedly supported it.” After that, he said, the Democrats should have continued working on public works, New Deal-esque initiatives instead of shifting focus to health care and cap and trade.

Holden, who has been in Congress since 1993, handily won re-election by 55 percent of the vote.

Asked if he was worried about any intraparty repercussions of voting against the leadership, he said he didn’t so.